Tenable Network Security makes first acquisition, eyes future deals

Tenable Network Security has purchased a San Francisco-based cybersecurity firm, marking the first acquisition for the Columbia company.

Terms of the deal for FlawCheck were not disclosed.

FlawCheck specializes in scanning so-called “containers,” files that consolidate large amounts of software data. Before the containers are downloaded to a user’s computer or stored on a server, FlawCheck scans them for cybersecurity vulnerabilities, malware and other viruses that could be harmful to the end-user.

The company was founded in February 2015 and has two employees, both co-founders.

Anthony Bettini, FlawCheck’s co-founder, said there are currently no plans to relocate to Tenable’s Maryland offices. Bettini declined to disclose FlawCheck’s revenue.

Renaud Deraison, co-founder and chief technology officer at Tenable, said the company targeted FlawCheck because of its specialization.

“We didn’t do an acquisition for the sake of inflating the revenue,” Deraison said.

Tenable has recognized that more software companies are starting to use containers to store their products, but it didn’t have the means to scan them up until now.

“Up until now there was no real tool to provide visibility to containers [for our customers],” Deraison said.

Tenable could use the FlawCheck acquisition to spur future growth. While the company prefers to grow organically, Deraison said it will start looking at additional transactions in the future.

“It’s likely we’ll pursue some other tech-oriented companies in the future,” he said.

Tenable announced a year ago it had raised $250 million, a large Series B aimed at accelerating the company’s push into global cybersecurity markets. Tenable has raised $300 million.

For FlawCheck, Bettini is hoping the acquisition by Tenable will increase the reach of the software that he’s created.

“We’ve built the technology. I wouldn’t claim to change the world or anything like that, but we want people to use it, and we want it to be in the hands of the customers and making a real difference,” he said. “Tenable has over 20,000 customers, and much of those customers [can use this].”